“Summer Breeze, makes me feel fine, blowing through the jasmine in my mind”- Seals and Croft

How are you?

Doing good this way and I will add that it has been a wet couple of days but that makes for the summer breeze to be more pleasant and I have no complaints.

In the last episode, I told you that I will be sharing some recipes that I have been making in my kitchen.

This one I love because I was able to use some of the chilies and basil from my porch “garden”. Hubby and I decided to plant a few things and we decided on chives, parsley, basil, chilies, green pepper, and some tomatoes that have not produced any tomatoes- a story for another day!

Most times, people avoid using the oven because it makes it hot in the house, but not me. If the food I crave calls for the oven, I turn it on! Do you use the oven in the summer?

If I want to experiment, I usually go with or start with a base that I am comfortable with- this time I chose Rice and tomato stew. You can use this sauce for many dishes, you can just use a little bit in the dish you are about to make and freeze any leftovers for another day😉

Here is my baked Tomato Rice.

Ingredients

2 Cups of Rice
1 can of tomato paste
Diced whole onion
diced chilies (2 or more if you like heat)
1 Bell pepper- chopped
1 cup deveined shrimp
Bay leaf
Chopped fresh basil
1 tsp ground ginger
1 tsp ground garlic
Salt to taste
Vegetable oil
1/2 cup water/ beef stock/ chicken stock

Method

First, open the tomato paste and set aside.
Grab a pot that can go in the oven- a cast iron pot is preferred or use the pot you have and then transfer the sauce to an oven-safe dish later
Heat the oil and then add ground garlic and ginger until golden. Add half of the diced onions
Let it cook for five minutes
Add tomato paste and cook with the lid on the pot. Stir intermittently until the paste crumbles in the oil
Add water or the stock of choice. Let it cook.
Add your seasoning to taste.
Remove from heat.

Get the rice. I have seen some people cook their rice without washing it. I am of the opinion that you wash it first. In my mind, I think it is healthier to do so. After washing your rice put in the oven-safe pot.

Add the sauce you have cooked- remember it will be thick because you did not add a lot of water
Add the remainder of the onions, add the shrimp, chopped bell pepper, basil and chilies
Stir
Add the instructed amount of water given to cook the rice. I used Basmati rice and it recommends 3 cups of water for the 2 cups of rice I am cooking.
Season to taste.
If using a pot, put a sheet of foil on the pot before you place the lid of the pot; it keeps the steam in the pot
Bake in a 450-degree oven for 35 mins. After 35 mins, check the rice by sticking a spoon into the pot. If there is water left in the pot- the spoon will be wet when you pull out of the rice- and the rice is tender, turn down the temperature to 350 degrees and leave in the oven for 10 minutes. If the rice is not tender, leave the temperature of the oven the same and shut the oven door.
Check and when the spoon stuck in the pot comes out clean, and rice is tender. Remove from the oven, and serve!

If you try this recipe and or make this dish, let me know.

Here are some pics from when I made this dish!

Enjoy!

Have a great week!

Ezanya